


Spark

by simpleParadox



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 12:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18851491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpleParadox/pseuds/simpleParadox
Summary: Rip has been having a hard time finding people to hire for his new project. That is, until he finds Gary Green.AKA I have always wondered how Rip recruited Gary so I wrote a fic about it.





	Spark

“Good morning Mr. Hunter, hope it wasn’t too much of a hassle getting here,” Director Yuli, head of the FBI Analytics division in Washington DC, said as she directed him into the small series of office floors. Rip just nodded and gave a simple response, a little too tired for small talk. Jet lag was nothing compared to time lag. 

Speaking of, he’s been off the Waverider for about a month now. With a clear plan in mind he was able to find the people he needed for his…Time Agency? Time Group? Name pending, he still was able to make fast work of his plan. He’s already got government funding thanks to some connections he had, so now was the hard part. Building the damn thing. He needed a place, and more importantly, he needed people. This was very different from choosing the Legends.

The Legends were people he knew he could discreetly take out of the timeline without wrecking everything. They were brash, loud, and seemed to be a magnet for bad decisions. This time had to be different. He had to find people who were trained, intelligent, and had enough common sense not to start bar fights at any given moment. Rip thought that it would be easy, but so far, every interview he’s conducted felt…fake. For as much shit as he gives the Legends, they were probably the most honest people he had ever had the pleasure of meeting. These people, people handpicked by agencies for him to look at, plastered on a smile and talked for ten minutes about how being in a business fraternity would help with any internal affairs. Rip thought he would thrive off this new mundanity, but now he found himself missing Sara’s sharp jokes and Mick’s complaints. Maybe he should just hire someone to do this for him.

Rip was shaken from his thoughts as Director Yuli brought him to the main floor. The floors were a grey carpet, slightly darker from the color of the walls. Cubicles were pushed together like a puzzle that was never meant to be solved. Between the small banter, ringing, and typing noises he felt like someone just put an audio track over his life. Nothing could compare to the calming hum of his ship. 

“Our division prides itself on being efficient and producing the best work out of the FBI. All of our agents have been through weeks of training as well as having monthly performance reviews,” Director Yuli explained to him as she traversed the maze of the office. “The three agents you’ll be seeing today have been ranked the highest in our department. You would be more than happy to have them on your team.”

Rip nodded at her again (god, did he really need to start drinking coffee?) and took the files that she handed him. “The conference room is right this way,” she said and lead him into a smaller room with a large wooden desk and a couple of those expensive office chairs littered around it. 

“They understand the basis of the position, correct?” Rip had to ask. He couldn’t be too specific about what this job was, he couldn’t just tell people willy-nilly that time travel was real and that everything was fucked, so he told the department heads to tell these people that this was for a new sub-branch of the FBI, one dealing with issues that can’t see the light of day to keep the public safe. And besides, having something labeled “Top Secret” always made people way more interested. 

“Yes,” she said tentatively, as though she had a hard time explaining the job herself to her agents. “They’re all very excited to potentially be part of the start of something new.”

“Isn’t everyone?” Rip laughed. Director Yuli gave him a half laugh back then checked her watch. 

“I’ll bring in your first appointment,” she told him, then left out the door. 

Rip hated interviews. He hated small talk, he hated resumes, he hated…well, everything about them. At least the Time Masters just gave him some series of weird tests for him to do instead of having him try to sell himself to people he didn’t even know. 

By the end of the interviews he stood by his opinion now more than ever.

It’s not like they were bad people, no. They all seemed very nice and hardworking. But none of them had that spark he was looking for. He could find a million people who knew how to run diagnostics or could do forensic science, but we’re talking about time travel here. You can’t just give everyone with a 4.0 GPA the ability to do that.

Rip left the conference room with a sigh. Maybe he was being too picky. Not everyone could be perfect, like Ava, the clone he stole from a couple years in the future. Taking one was risky, he couldn’t go and take ten more. 

The former Time Master sauntered into what looked like some kind of break room, giving in and looking for a coffee machine. Tea was great, sure, but it didn’t have enough caffeine to get him through days like these. His mind felt numb and he could feel a stress headache coming on. He smiled when he saw a Keurig and some disposable coffee cups. At least this place was stocked. 

Putting down the files he knew would eventually just end up in the bin, Rip grabbed the nearest K-Cup and slotted it into the machine, putting a cup down on the tray. He clicked the button, but nothing happened. He clicked it again. Nothing.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed. Could this day get any worse?

“You need help?”

Rip jolted a little at the voice that was suddenly behind him and turned around. A man stood behind him with his own mug, the Star Trek logo plastered on it, wearing a suit like everyone else who worked here. He had curled, slicked back hair, large glasses that actually framed his face well, and a soft smile.

“Uh, yeah, I’m not sure what’s wrong with this stupid thing.” God Rip, he thought. You can fix a time machine but can’t figure out a coffee machine. 

“Oh, this thing is always acting up, let me just-,” the man stepped forward, put his mug down, then started fiddling with the plug on the machine. After a few moments he turned back to Rip with a much larger smile. “Try it now.” 

Rip pressed the button and alas, it started working. “Thanks mate,” he smiled back, grateful that he wouldn’t have to go through the day coffee-less. 

“It’s no problem at all!” The man grabbed his mug, looking like he was about to leave before stopping himself. “You’re the guy who’s running the new sub-branch, right?”

Rip watched as the brown liquid started flowing into the cup like it was a fucking elixir. He was so focused on his drink he almost missed the man’s question. 

“Yeah, that’s me. Guess it’s the talk of the town, huh?” Rip wasn’t stupid, he’d know that there would be talk. All he could do was hope it didn’t interfere with any of his plans. He looked over at the man, and since he was able to get him his coffee, smiled and offered his hand to shake. “Rip Hunter.”

The man eagerly accepted it, shaking his hand with more vigor than anyone ever had. “Gary Green. It’s really nice to meet you, sir,” he told him, smile still plastered on his face like it belonged there. 

Rip laughed a little as he pulled his hand back, shaking it a bit. “Strong grip,” he joked. He heard the Keurig stop making noises and saw that his coffee was done. “Milk and sugar anywhere?”

“Top shelf,” Gary pointed. Rip thanked him again and grabbed what he needed for his drink.

“Um, I hope this isn’t a weird question,” Gary started off. “But is that your coat on the coat rack? The long one?”

Rip raised an eyebrow at the question. “Yeah, that’s mine. Why?”

“Oh, it just looks a lot like the Tenth Doctor’s jacket. You know, from Doctor Who?” Gary nervously played with his mug, as if he was asking a stupid question and didn’t want Rip to get mad at him. 

“That’s the show with the time traveling police box, right?” Rip asked. He’d humored the old show before, and accidentally got sucked into a few episodes. Seeing people’s takes on time travel can be very entertaining. 

“Yes!” Gary said, excited. “It’s one of my favorites. Ten is the best Doctor in my opinion.”

“Good bloke,” Rip laughed, taking a sip of his piping hot coffee. It slightly burned the roof of his mouth, but he didn’t care, he finally had caffeine. “So, you like time travel, huh?”

“Oh yeah! It’s such a cool story element. Like, the ability to travel anywhere in the past, interact with historic figures and events, that’s the dream.” Gary took a sip of his own drink. “Do you really think time travel is how it is on that show? In Doctor Who, if you change one little thing, it could have drastic consequences. Could that much actually happen just from, say, stealing a pen? Or maybe time is more lenient? It keeps me up at night…” Gary’s eyebrows scrunched together, as if he was in deep thought. 

“I feel like time’s a bit more malleable than you think,” Rip told him. Another sip of his coffee. Another grin from Gary. Suddenly he was hit with the strange feeling that he’s had a conversation like this before. He froze and realized talking to Gary felt like talking to Ray.

Gary must’ve noticed Rip freeze and his face turned more somber. “I’m sorry. I’m bugging you. I should go.”

“No, wait,” Rip stopped him. “Sorry, it’s just- you reminded me of someone.”

“Oh,” Gary sighed with relief. “It’s just the people here get easily annoyed by me. They don’t really talk to me. I try to find things in common with them but they just, well, they ignore me.”

Rip watched as Gary’s infectious smile turned into a frown, and his eyes trailed down to look at the floor. “I don’t see why. Talking to you has been better than every interview conversation I’ve had today.”

Gary perked up at that. “Really?”

That’s when Rip saw it. That…spark. The hope in his eyes. He’d seen that look before, saw it in Carter’s eyes even as he laid dying. See’s the smile and optimism that Ray has. The willingness to help a stranger like Kendra. This man was an outcast but that didn’t turn him into something twisted. He was honest. He was like a Legend.

Rip smiled at this realization and asked, “How long have you worked here?”

“About three years, why?”

“And what do you do here?” Rip asked, ignoring his question. 

“Uh, I go over reports and analytics,” Gary told him, eyebrow raised in confusion. 

“Seems like you could be doing something much more exciting,” Rip started, taking out his new business card. “Why don’t you come work for me?

Gary was shocked at the question. “You-You mean come work for you on a top-secret branch of the government?”

“That’s exactly what I’m asking,” Rip told him, placing the card in his hand.

“But, why me? You haven’t even seen my qualifications or even had an interview with me,” Gary asked him. 

“Listen Gary, I’ve been stuck in interviews with people that claim to be qualified for a week. None of them gave me the feeling in my gut that you just gave me. You’d be great for this job,” Rip tried to explain to him. He knew that hiring on a feeling was against the norm, but he didn’t really care. His guts never been wrong before. 

Gary stared for a few moments at the card in his hand, amazed. He looked up at Rip with a larger than life smile on his face, putting his mug down on a nearby table. “I accept!”

“Brilliant,” Rip sighed, thankful that he had at least one new employee.

“Um,” Gary stopped, fiddling with the card. “What is the job exactly?”

Rip laughed. “Oh, Gary.” He slung an arm around Gary’s shoulders and started leading him out of the break room. “You’re gonna love this.”


End file.
